I don't follow sports, but I saw a story on the news about a basketball game. One player was blatantly fouled by another player. The fouled player had the ball when another player pushed him with force to the ground. I may not know sports, but I know that was wrong, and a foul would have been called against the player who did the pushing, and the player who was pushed would have gotten a chance at free throws. That's how it works - if you do wrong you are punished and if you are wronged you are redeemed. Unfortunately the player who'd been pushed to the ground got up angrily and got in the face of the player who'd pushed him. It ended up breaking out into fights and chaos and several people were put out of the game - including the player who was fouled and the player who fouled him.

Immediately I thought about how sad that was. If the fouled player hadn't tried to take matters into his own hands it would have been resolved in his favor. Those are the rules of the game. Likewise when someone wrongs us God has promised to be our Vindicator, and to give us double for our trouble. But the condition is we can't try to seek revenge, but let God redeem us. Like that player we have choices. He could have gotten up, used self-control and taken his free throws. That would have been far better than getting thrown out. When someone wrongs us it is very tempting to "get back at them," but like that player we find that taking matters into our own hands only makes things worse. Players were pushed and shoved, coaches were pushed to the ground; a fight even broke out in the stands among the fans. That makes me think about how our choices impact others. The world is watching us, and our choices have influence. As a leader, a parent, a minister, whatever you are - you are a role model. Not only are you bringing destruction on yourself with poor choices but you could be bringing it on others. I pray that when trouble comes, you'll exercise self-control and let God be your Vindicator. That trouble has set you up for a blessing; please don't let it become a curse. We can choose to be vindictive or we can choose to be vindicated.